What we've learnt from our teen make-up mistakes

Call it wisdom, a more generous budget or simply just practice making perfect – but generally speaking, by the time you reach your 20s, your make-up skills will have advanced by leaps and bounds. Although thanks to YouTube (and sites like beautyheaven), teens are now better at make-up than ever. Back in the day however (we swear it wasn’t that long ago), these were the make-up mistakes we made, creating a pretty big comparison between make-up in our teens to our 20s…

FOUNDATION

In your teens: Choosing a shade to match your skin tone was not a concept you were aware of. You were either stealing your mum’s, or too scared to ask for help and just picked the first one you saw. The result? Two types of school photos: ghostly pale and Oompa Loompa.

In your 20s: You always do a swatch test and if it’s going to cost you more than $30, you damn well ask for a sample and test that bad boy in all different lights to make sure it’s worth it. SPF is a bonus too – because wrinkles.

bh recommends:

M.A.C Studio Waterweight SPF 30 Foundation
Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation SPF20
Clarins Everlasting Foundation SPF15
Arbonne Perfecting Liquid Foundation SPF 15

RELATED: Crimes against foundation

CONCEALER

In your teens: Sometimes when your breakouts were really bad, you just piled this on all over.

In your 20s: Most commonly used for covering the dark circles that trying to maintain a social life AND a full-time job inevitably brings.

bh recommends:

MASCARA

In your teens: The clumpier the formula, the better. Lashes should be chunky and completely covered in black – top and bottom. Der.

In your 20s: If it comes off easily in the shower – it’s a goodie.

FALSE LASHES

In your teens: You can use regular glue to just stick these on, right?

In your 20s: Falsies are reserved for special occasions only. You know how to trim them perfectly for your eye shape and always use a quality glue like DUO® Strip Lash Adhesive. Remembering to take them off before bed is the hard part…

EYELINER

In your teens: Making mistakes wasn’t an issue because smudging was totally in. You just drew a black circle all the way around your eye and blended it with your finger. The best look was always after you slept in it.

In your 20s: You know to spare an extra half hour if you want to attempt a winged look, but for an everyday look you keep it simple with a thin line across the top lid.

bh recommends:

LIPSTICK

In your teens: Or should we say lip gloss, lip balm or tint? Whatever you used, it was usually watermelon or strawberry flavoured and so addictive you’d apply it every five minutes.